Transmitting apparatus for remote control systems



INVENTOR v Andrew J Jopenyezz.

fizzy I HIS ATTORNEY A. J. SOREN SEN Original Filed Dec. 17, 1943 TRANSMITTING APPARATUS FOR REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEMS Feb. 26, 1946."

Patented Feb. 26, 1946 CTRANSMITEING.APPARATUS- FOR: REMQTE pCQNTROL SYSEEEMS Andrew J. Sorensen,Edgewood,"Pa., assigno'rflzo The Union Switch & Signal Qornpany',"Swissvale', '-l a., a corporation of' Penn'syl'v-a-nia orig-inallapplication December 17;, 1943,8eria1N0.

.1 514,641. Divided and this =aDD1icati0n--l;\T,0vemlibel?"Z,.I944, -'S.eri3;1 No. 561,563

, 4'Claims. '(Cl. Iii-.4380) 1 This ;application .is. a. ,di vision, ofpmy icopending application v.for: Letters Patent -of the United States, Serial No. 514,641, filed December 17,, 1943,

-fore-Remote control systems.

(My invention. relates .toi remote control ,systems,

stretch aregoverned.primaijily by train. orders, supplemented, by; manual control of ,the signals.

' vIni'its' specific emlcfodiment, as shown, thesystemf my invention provi.des.,.acilities by which the .signals at leachv wofjten stations. may ,be selecand, more particularly tin-centralized trafiic-contivel-y controlled itokgive proceed; permissivehpr trol systems-tor railroads iforithe controlof railstop .,indi cations, .by thelighting offthe 'lam'psG, way signals- 01: other traffic vcontrolling devices YioreR,respectivelmpf the signals-QLH and .RH, from-a centralpoint ofrcontrolispuc'hias a train in'lresponsettothe-operationofsuitablepush bntdispatcher s office, and for the indication of such tonsPS and at: the controlioifice, and. also prodevicescr -.of train =movements atthe control .oftides meansior lighting. selected indication lamps :fice. E; at theio'flice toindicatewhen the correspond- Onerobiect of, myiiinvention isnthe provision of ing signals are ,.ats'top,1. each lamp Elbeingfllighttransmitting apparatus suitable forq'usepin a reed l-automaticallywhen' a train entersthe corre- -.mote"control,systems for'the'remoteicontrol .of i5 spending dete.ct or.- .section. unattended manual block signals, employing cur- L, Thevapparatus provided :at e ch stationinrentsrof-suchfia characten that they. maybe transeludes three-selector:relayS..Rl;, R2. and Ritr hr .mitted at times sover{existingIrailroadv communisignal cOntrolrelaysfLHS, RHS and DS,--'lnd an cation .circuits without; interfering materially indication transmitting relay. Ll. Atfive Ofsthe with their.userionothericommunicationpurposes. .stationsmadjustable connections are madevigto Another iobject-fof m-y invention is the .provicontacts aiand cqof relayRl to render relay B3 sion cftransmitting apparatus foricommunicatresponsive to line signals when relay LRI ..is enering-bycode between amontroloflice and a plugizedu Atl the remaining five stations, {the conralit sof remote-stations,tin which the codes inectionsarevshifted tocontactsa andcofrelay comprise-different sequencesofimpulsesofalter- 26 RZHtQ-render reIay Rs responsive to line signals hating-.currents,cfdifferent frequencies within a when relay :R2 islenergized. :Each selector relay hand -of sfrequencies preferably'in the voice fre- :R3'i-s arranged to-beenergized. through a rectifier quencytrangegonatleastin avrangewhichQis suit- .unit "H whenltheunit.islsupplied With-alternatable for; transmission over existing telephoneciring current from a tunedcircuit comprising a coil .cu-its. :lZand a condensergCIi. lEach suchotuned circuit ts-Otherobjects ieaturesandpurposes otmydnis adapted to pass tsufiic'ient current ,toene'rgize vention willbe rpointed -outr as the description therassociated frelayionly when supplied with curm rent of. a particular frequency received [over the vI.shall-describeloneform-ofapparatus embody- .line wires YandlZ In thesystemas. shown, th :ing .'my invention,--and shalltthenpointzout the control,oftemstations ,iscontemrilated, andja noveL-features;zthereofcin claims. bandiof ten-irequencies .flfltoijil'fl is used,vfive, of :Referring, bathe accompanying vdrawing-the which, namely, ,theirequencies fl to ,f5,,,are.1em- :reference characters Y-and Z designate a=pair of ployedvltoiselectthe stations. rline wireswhich it is ,to :be .understood provide In theidrawing the -,referen,ce.,Qh'aracters jl, atelephonecircuitextendingirom acontrolof- 40 j2, etc., indicatingl'thelfrequency 'to which each ,fice wat. whichthe 'apparatus at thetfleft ofjthe tuned circuitsis-responsive, areshownadjacent drawing. is ,located, through a plurality of stathe circuit ;;;the.' circuit .f0r .-re1ay---R3, f rf 'x mp tions; situated, at spaced. points .-along a. stretch "at the. station shown, bjeing se1ecti vely responsive ,of railwa iat .each-of.which stations acpair. of .to'lthe. frequencyi fl.

manualblock signals andRH, is ,located, as p,The'relaysRLandRlfaredirectcurrentrlam indicated .byithe track diagram,i=each station ,beof Lthelbiased polargtype which respond selecingvprovidedwith" a paratus similar, to, that tivelyjtoltheLsteady c9mponent eoflt'he current shown at therightrofithemdrawing,fhaving aconsupplied to ,the line 'wiresiY and Z, a, reactor '13 nectiontto. the -line, wires. Yand Z as shown. beingjinterposediin theline connections, relay It may be assumedwthattthestretchisnot pro- 60 lrr s ondi fly when line wire Yis, wnositive vided'. with track .rcircuits exceptior a; short deand relayjR'Z only when 'lin'e'wire Y is negative, Vtector section Tmateeac'h' stationhai/ing .altrack withre p t li e W BZ- At'each 0f fivestarelay ,TRvforethewcontrol ,ofilthezisignals, 'andfor tion's, ,relayR'3 is arrangedfito respond to a, dif- .indicating the movementsyof trains. past .the. sta- Ifrent lone 'jO'f "the frequencies flytoffi provided tions, and that train movements through the "relay RI "is pickedup, the line connection-for the tuned circuits including contact a of relay RI as shown. At each of the remaining five stations, relay R3 is responsive to a different one of the frequencies II to f5 provided rela R2 is picked up, its tuned circuit being adjustably conneoted to contact a, of;relay R2,. andit follows thereforethat the relay R3 at any on Qf-th'e'ten stations may be selectively energized by a single impulse of pulsating current having one of two polarities and one of five frequencies.

Each relay R3 is provided with a stick circuit extending from the positive terminal B of a local source of direct current at the station over contact c of the relay RI orRZ which controls its pick-up circuit, as indicated diagrammatically on the drawing, over the front contact a and lower winding of relay R3 to the negative terminal 0 of the local source. It follows that relay R3 at a RHS are both in their released position, an impulse of current of a selected frequency in the band fl-fIU will be supplied to the line wires over back contacts e of relays LHS and RHS,

' front contacts b and c of relay LI, back contacts 1), ofrelays. RI and R2,,,co il, 5. and. condenser C4, the impulse terminatingijwith the release of relay LIfwhich relayis slow acting." Relay LHS or RHS is released automatically following the release of relay TR by a train, and since relays LHS and RHS are slow to release, as shown, re-

lay LI becomes energized over a circuit closed momentarily which extends from terminal B at back I contacta of relay TR; over front contact d of reselected station may be held picked up, along with relay RI or R2, after the alternating current impulse is terminated, provided direct current continues to be supplied to the line. Under these circumstances the tuned circuits for relays DS, LHS and RHS, which are responsive to alternatingrcurrentsof frequencies f6, f1 and f8, respectively, in the same manner as'relay R3, are connected to the line over contact a of relay RI or R2 and contact 12 of relay R3, and if a second impulse of frequency #0, f! or i8 is supplied to the line, relay DS, LHS 'or RHS may be energized, while. if a second impulse of frequency f! or ill followed'by' a.v third impulse of frequenc f6 is supplied to the line, relay LHSor RHS may be energized and relay DS in addition. Each of the relays LHS'and RHS is provided with a stick circuit including its own'front contact a, a back "contact c of relay R3 and a front contact a of the. track relay TR of the detector track section '1, consequentlyif either relay RI-lS or LHS is energized it may be released manually by operation .of' relay R3, or automatically by a train entering section T. Rela DS has a. stick circuit including its own frontcontact a and front contact c'of relay LHS or RHS and consequently will be released along with relay LHS or RHS, if energized. Relays LHS and DS jointly control the lamps R, Y and G for signal LH, and relays RH S and DS similarly control these for signal RH in-a well-known manner which may be readily ascertained from the drawing.

. .The station apparatus also includes a source of alternating current of a particular frequency in the band ofifrequencies fI to III), which source as shownimay be understood to bean electron tube oscillator OSC similar to the one including the tube VT at the oflice as hereinafter described."

The output circuit of oscillator CS0 is adapted to be connected to theline wires Y and Z, 'at times, in response to the operation of relay LI, to indicatethat relays LHS and RHS are released and that the signals are consequently at stop.

Whenrelays RI or R2, R3 and DS are operated,

relay LHS or RHS will .be released by relay R3, if energized, and relay LI picks. up over the circuit extending from terminal B at contact 0 of aslthe line becomes free, as indicated b the releaseof relay RI or R2 andif relays LHS and la LHS or RHS through relay LI to terminal C, and the indication impulse will be transmitted during the release period of relay Ll following the release of relay LHS or RHS.

It will be seen that since back contacts I) of both line relays RI and R2 are included in the circuit for transmitting the indication impulse, its transmission cannot occur when the line is in use for "transmitting control impulses to any of the ten stations.

At the control office, the indication receiving apparatus includes a set of ten indication relays KI to KII], of which but three are shown, each controlled over a tuned circuit similar to that provided for the station relays but tuned to a difierent one of the ten frequencies /I to ill). Relay KI, having its circuit tuned to the frequency fl, responds to the indication impulse received from the station shown and is then held energized over a stick circuit until manually released, lighting a lamp EI to indicate that the signals LH and RH at the corresponding static stand at stop.

' The ofi'ice'transmitting apparatus includes ten sets of manually operable selecting contacts, controlled by a seriesof push-buttons PS, for selecting the stations'mf which for simplicity but three are shown, namely PSI, PS2 and PSIB; five sets of manually operable control contacts, controlled by another series of push buttons PFI' to PF5, inclusive, for governing the'signal control relays at the selected station; a set of five relays PC, DR, OR, L and LP for governing the transmission of the impulses'and' an oscillator including the electron tube VT for generating the alternating current of the desired frequencies.

The operation of contact a of any of the push buttons PS opens the stick circuit for the associated indication relay K, and closes a circuit for energizing relay PC, which relay is of the polar stick type and serves as a pole changer to govern the polarity of the direct current supplied to the line from a local source having the terminals B and C, as shown. It is to be understood that the operation of any meet the buttons Pl to P5 energizes the upper winding of relay PC" to cause it to operate its contacts a and b to the left as shown to render the relays RI responsive, while the operation of anyone of the buttons P6 to PIQ "energizes. the lower winding of relay Pqto cause it to operateits contacts to the right, to render the relays R2 responsive to the steady component of the line current. The opening of contact b of any of thebuttons PS disconnects output coil I6 for the oscillator VT, through a rectifier l8 and a condenser C5, while the closing of cataract: d -of th'e operated button PS-compl'tes ai-"tti'rie'd' -c"'ciiit iriclildihg coil l 'l a'nd condenser C re'r controlling the frequenc generated by the electron tube'V-T- anddelivemd to the line by coil l6. Cohtac'ts' d of buttons PS! to PS' are each conh'e'cted to 'adifier'eht tapbn coil I to cause the generation of-a"dilie'reh't one of the frequ'em dies fl' 'to f5, respectively, buttons PS6 to PSlll beihg sii-n i-larly 'eonneotedto cause the generation of the ame frefuenoies.

Ha'i -i-ng thus described-the various components of the system of my invention, I shall now explain it's-mode of Operation, assuming first that with the apparatus as shown, the operator desires to obtairr a r'ecan -'indication 'from the station shown t'o-yerify- 'the fa'c't that 'the' signals are at stop. He will first operate button PSI, releasing relay KI and thereby cancelling the existing indication displayed by lamp- El and: operating rlay PC to normaL as shown. The oscillator tube VT will be set into operation to supply cur rent to the line wires of frequency fl over theconnection to coil l5 including contact 0 ofbutton PS! and rectiher I 8.

Contacts :1 of'rela'ys Rl -and R2 at each station are now open, ='and'the alternating current delivered to the line 'is-principallydue to the capacity between line wires Y and Z. This, however, isoi a value sufrlcient to pick up the detector relay DR, provided the oscillator delivers the proper voltage and its connections to the line wires are-intact so as to include the line capacity in its'output circuit. When relay DR picks up, 'unidirectional current is supplied to the .li necircuit including the relays RI and R2, over the connection from terminals B and 'C at contacts a and'b of relay 'PC,contacts b and got relay DR through the direct current relay'OR, and coil "[9 to 'the line wires Yland Z, thereby picking up relay OR and also the relays R1 at al-lstations to open their contacts I) in the indication circuits, and to close-their contacts a, so that relay R3 at the selected station also picks up. i The closing of contact a of relay OR completes a circuit :for energizing a chain of timing relays illustrated by the 'relays L and LP whichpick up successively, the closing of contact a of relay LP lighting a control lampCEl and completing a local stick circuit for relay DR. It will be noted that the tuned circuit including coil IT and con denser Cl which was completed initially over back c'ontactbof relay LP is now completed over front contact b-of relay OR, and that contact 6 of *relay DR provides a connection from coil l6 to'the linein parallel with contacts c-of'buttons PS. It will be alsonoted that if two of'the buttons PS 'which'control different frequencies are inadvertently operated at the same time, a"portion of th'e'coil i7 willbe short circuited by their contacts d to prevent the generation of alternating current by the tube VT, the selection of more than one relay R3 at at time being thereby prevented.

When lamp CE becomes lighted, the operated button PSI may be released. The opening of its contact d terminates the delivery of the alternating current component of the impulse, relays OR, L, LP, DR at the oflice, and relays RI and R3 at the selected station remaining energized due to the flow of unidirectional current in the line circuit.

The operator will now press one of the buttons PFI to PF5. Button PFI controls relay DS only, for the purpose of initiating a return indication when the signals are at stop. Buttons PF2-= and 'PF3 contrbl relaysiLHSf and RHS, respectively, to cause the selected 'signal to display its-permissiveindication, while-buttons TF4: and PF5 control relays lL-EIS and RES, "respectively, and relay 1258 in addition, to cause the selected signal to indicate proceed.

'Assum'ing "that-button PFI isnow "operated, relay 0R will-beshuntedby the closing hi the push button contact 0 and will release,'-opening itscontactbin 'thecircuit for condenser Cl controlled by the buttons PSl to PSlll, and com- Dieting a tuned 'circ-uitat its back contact 0 from the upper terminal of coil ll, condenser. C2,""fron'tcontact b'of relay L and contact a of button'PFl, to the'terminal "of coil ll marked-f6, caus'ihgtube VT to deliver current of frequency ft'to the line to energize relay DS, whichin'turn energizes relay LFat'the selected station. The r'ele'a's'efof relay "OR d'eenergizes relayL, which rel'ea's'es ait'er'a' brief "period to terminate the impulse, releasing irelay "DS. Relay L'deen'ergizes relay LPwhich releases after asecondbrief period, in turn releasing relay 'DR to'interrupt the "'steady'line current thereby releasing relay RI. The release of relay LP extinguish'es lamp CE, indicating the return of the control apparatus to normal, whereupon button PF! may be released, while the release of relay Rl'd'een'ergizes relays R3 'and Ll and'initiates'the return indication impulse of frequency flto energize relayKl and light the lamp El. Assuming next t'hat 'the operator'presses"button P'SI as above desciibed and "then aftermleasing button 'Pstpres'ses button PE? or "PF3, an impulse of frequency f? or it will be delivered to the line -for the duration of the release period of relay L to operate relay 'LI-IS or RHS', which relay will'then be held energizedover its stick circuit'including front contact a of relay-TR, but relayLl will not be operated and no indication impulse will be transmitted, consequently lamp El willremain dark.

"If =butt0n PFll or 'P'FE is operated in place of button PFZ or PFSl, an impulse of frequency 'ifl or it will likewise be delivered to the lineifo'r the duration-of the-release periodof relay L,'to operate relay LHS-or RHS, but in this instance'a tuned'circuit will be completed upon the release of-relay-Lincluding coil l'l, cOndenserCZ, back contacts cand b of relays OR and L, front contact c-of relay LP and contact 1) of the operated button, so that an impulseof frequency it will be delivered to the line for the duration of the release period of relay-LP to operate relay DS, which relay will then be held energized over its stick-circuit including contact 0 of relay LHS or RHS. In this case relay Ll is not operated because its'c-ircuit is-opened at back contact d of rel'ay-LI-ISor RI-IS prior to the closing of front con'ta'ctd of relay D5, and therefore no indication impulse is transmitted and lamp El remains dark. It will be seen that relay Ll is operated by relay DS to initiate a return indication impulse only when the operation of relay DS is due to the operation of button PFI, as hereinbefore described.

It will also be seen that after the signal LH or RH has been cleared, it may be put manually to stop and the return indication initiated to light lamp El by pressing buttons PSI and PFI, or it will be put automatically to stop and lamp El lighted, due to the release of the track relay TR when a train governed by the signal enters section T, in which case the signal will remain at stop, due to the release of the stick relay LHS or RHS after section T is vacated.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of remote control system embody- -ing my invention, it is understood that various relay, a tuned circuit comprising a condenser,

and a coil having an adjustable number of effective turns for controlling the frequency of the current generated by the oscillator, means com prising front and back contacts of said timing relay and two contacts of each of a plurality of said sets of contacts for completing said tuned circuit through different numbers of turns of said coil to render the oscillator effective to generate alternating currents of different frequencies, depending upon which set of contacts is operated and upon the position of said timing relay, and means controlled by a third contact of the operated set of contacts foractuating said timing relay whenever said set of contacts is operated, thereby rendering first one and then the other of the two contacts, of said set effective to control the frequency of the current generated by said oscillator and to supply said currents successively for brief periods to said line circuit.

2. In a remote control system, means for delivering impulses of alternating current of selected frequencies successively to a line circuit, comprising two groups or manually operable keys each of which keys is provided with an individual set of normally open contacts, an electron tube oscillator adapted to generate alternating current of any one of said plurality of frequencies, a first relay, means for energizing said first relay in response to the operation of any key in one of said groups, a slow release relay controlled by a front contact of said first relay, a tuned circuit including a front contact of said first relay, a condenser and a coil having an adjustable number of effective turns for controlling the frequency of the current generated by the oscillator, said circuit also including a contact of the operated key for selecting the number of effective turns in said coil to render the oscillator effective to generate alternating current of a distinctive frequency identifying the operated set of contacts, means for releasing said first relay in response to the operation of any key in the second group, and a tuned circuit including a back contact of said first relay, a front contact of said slow release relay, a condenser and said coil, and also including a contact of the operated key in the second group for selecting a different number of effective turns in said coil, thereby rendering first one key and then another effective to control the frequency of the current generated by said oscillator to supply impulses of different frequencies successively to said line circuit.

3. Impulse transmitting apparatus for a remote control system comprising a plurality of sets of manually operable selecting contacts, an electron tube oscillator, means responsive to the operation of one contact of any set for causing said oscillator to generate alternating current of a distinctive frequency identifying said set of contacts, means responsive to the operation of another contact of said set for connecting the oscillator to a line circuit for efiecting the delivery of said current thereto, a detector relay responsive to the current delivered to said line circuit, a set of manually operable control contacts, means controlled by said relay when operated for maintaining the oscillator connected to the line circuit following the release of the operated set of contacts until after said control contacts have been operated, and means responsive to the operation of said control contacts for causing the oscillator to deliver an impulse of current of another distinctive frequency to the line circuit.

4. Impulse transmitting apparatus for a remote control system comprising a plurality of sets of manually operable selecting contacts, an electron tube oscillator, means responsive to the operation of one contact of any set for causing said oscillator to generate alternating current of a distinctive frequency identifying said set of contacts, means responsive to the operation of another contact of said set for connecting the oscillator to a line circuit to effect the delivery of current thereto, a detector relay responsive to the current delivered to said line circuit, a series of timing relays controlled by said detector relay, a set of manually operable control contacts, means controlled by the detector relay when operated for maintaining the oscillator connected to the line circuit following the release of the operated set of contacts until after said control contacts have been operated, and means controlled by said timing relays in response to the operation of said control contacts for causing the oscillator to supply successive brief impulses of difierent frequencies to said line circuit.

ANDREW J. SORENSEN. 

